Jeitsey



N. DRAKE.

Corn Sheller.

Patented April 3, 1860 V VM 7%emes UNITED STATES PATNT FFTQE.

NATHANIEL DRAKE, OF NEXVTON, NEW JERSEY.

CORN-SHELLER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 27,705, dated April 8,1860; Reissued June 12,

1860, No. 980. n...

,-..+ "a i! 1* a neltnltwwt l E i To all whom at may concern. ner. Theupper end of thls spring bears Be it known that I, NATHANIEL DRAKE, ofNewton, in the county of Sussex and State of New Jersey, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Corn-Shellers; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which Figure 1, is a vertical section of a cornsheller with my improvement applied to it, as, m, Fig. 2, showing theplane of section. Fig. 2, is a plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the twofigures.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention I will proceed to describe it.

A, represents a rectangular box or case in which two shafts a, Z), areplaced transversely. On the shaft a, and within the case A, a toothedwheel B, is placed, said Wheel having teeth on its periphery and armedwith horizontal teeth or spikes c, on one side. One end of the shaft a,projects through the side of the case A, and has a crank C, on its end,see Fig. 2. The wheel B, gears into a pinion (Z, on the shaft 7), and onthis shaft 6, a wheel D, is placed, said wheel having an inclinedperiphery provided with transverse ribs cl. The smaller side of thewheel D, is toward the wheel B, or toward the plane of its rotation. I11the upper part of the case A, a shaft 6, is placed obliquely, said shafthaving a screw f, at

one end, which screw fits in a nut g, at one side of the case as shownclearly in Fig. 2, to permit of any necessary longitudinal adjustment ofsaid shaft. On this shaft 6, the pressure plate on bar E, is hung orsuspended, the shaft assing loosely through the upper end of said plateor bar and prevented from sliding laterally thereon by pins 72 h, asshown clearly in Fig. 2. This bar has transverse and concave ribs 2',formed on its inner surface and at its lower part, and to the lower partof the plate or bar a chain 7', is attached, said chain being connectedto one end of the case A.

F, is a spring the lower end of which is secured in the case A, in anyproper manon the upper part of the plate or bar E, as shown clearly inboth figures, and a set screw k, which passes through a nut Z, attachedto the case A, bears on the spring F and regulates its pressure.

G, is an inclined trough or spout which is placed on the case A, and inline with the space between the plate or bar E, and the wheels B, D. Theplate or bar E, works between guides m, m, attached to a horizontal barH.

The operation is as follows: Motion is given the shaft a, in any properway, and the two wheels B, D, rotate in the direction indicated by thearrows. The ears of corn,

shown in red, are fed down the spout G, and pass between the plate orbar E, and wheels B, D, the plate or bar E, keeping the ears of cornpressed against the wheels as they are operated on by the wheels, andinsuring the perfect shelling of the corn from the cob. The plate or barE, in consequence of the spring F, bearing against it, is allowed toyield or give to compensate for the various sized ears, and it will beseen that the plate or bar E, will yield or give under an equal pressureat all points of its movement owing to the manner in which the spring F,is made to bear upon it, for when the plate or bar E, is forced outwardthe upper end of the spring F, approaches nearer the shaft 6, or fulcrumof the plate or bar E, and consequently the plate or bar has anincreased leverage power as it yields to the ears while being shelled,and this increased leverage power increases correspondently with theincreased resistance of the spring F. Thus it will be seen that theplate or bar E, will bear with an equal pressure on the ears at allpoints of its movement, and the machine may be driven with much lesspower than usual, for in the machines hitherto constructed the spring ofthe plate or bar E, is made to bear on the lower part of the plate orbar substantially as shown by the dotted lines F, in Fig. l, and by thatarrangement the resisting power of the spring increases as the plate orbar E, is forced outward, and much greater power is required to operatethe machine than by my arrangement. The chain j, prevents the lower partofthe plate or oblique-acting adjustable spring F, set screw bar E,being thrown by spring F, in contact (70) plate E, and adjustable guardchain 10 with the Wheels B, D. (j), as and for the purpose herein shownI do not broadly claim the shelling Wheels and described. 5 and pressureplate; but N. DRAKE.

Having described my invention I claim Witnesses: and desire to secure byLetters Patent, R. T. SHINER, The arrangement and combination of the W'.A. ARMSTRONG.

